Sarah Burr

BSc MSc PhD

Assistant Professor

I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BSc in Microbiology in 1996. After two years working in a diagnostic microbiology lab, I enrolled in a Master's programme at the University of Victoria where I studied type II protein secretion in gram negative bacteria. After finishing my MSc in 2001, I relocated to Switzerland where I began work on a PhD at the Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, Universitaet Bern. My PhD project involved the characterization of the type III secretion system in Aeromonas salmonicida. I completed my thesis in 2004 and remained at the Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology as a post-doctoral fellow studying virulence factors of Aeromonas species until 2009 when I joined Professor Mabey's group at the LSHTM.

Research

I am the laboratory scientist for the MORDOR trial (Mortality reduction after oral azithromycin), which is evaluating the effect of mass drug administration with the broad-spectrum antibiotic azithromycin on childhood mortality and morbidity in three sites in sub-Saharan Africa. LSHTM is involved in the MORDOR trial in Malawi, where we are evaluating azithromycin's effect on under-5 mortality, trachoma, malaria, carriage of respiratory and diarrheal pathogens, macrolide resistance, intestinal inflammation, the gastrointestinal microbiome and growth.

The MORDOR trial is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is a collaborative project between LHSTM, UCSF and JHP. In Malawi, the MORDOR trial works in partnership with the College of Medicine, Blantyre Institute of Community Outreach (BICO) and the Ministry of Health.

I am also involved in trachoma control and surveillance activites in Malalwi, most recently evaluating the utility of serology assays as tools within surveillance programmes.

In 2016, I participated in LSHTM's small grants scheme in public engagement with a project Madzi ndi moyo! (Water is Life!). This engaged school children in Malawi to use scientific methods to assess water quality in their local environment and to disseminate their findings.